Distributed Consistent Database Implementation Within An Object Store

ABSTRACT

A storage system is described. The storage system includes an object store having a plurality of objects to implement a quota policy or a part of a relational database. The plurality of objects include a first plurality of immutable objects, a second plurality of immutable objects and a head object. The first plurality of immutable objects contain information kept within the database. The second plurality of immutable objects contain a hierarchy of pages for accessing the first plurality of immutable objects. The plurality of objects also include a mutable object that contains a mapping table that maps identifiers of the pages to identifiers of objects of the second plurality of immutable objects. The information is one of: quota policy information; information within a table of a relational database; a stripe of a thin provisioned file.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of invention relates generally to the computing sciences and more specifically to a distributed consistent database implementation within an object store.

BACKGROUND

FIG. 1 depicts three primary types of storage systems. As will be made more clear immediately below, what differentiates each of the storage systems from one another is the mechanism that is used to access the stored information.

FIG. 1a shows basic object storage. In the case of an object store, a requestor 101 requests access to a specific item of stored information (“an object”) from the object store 102 by way of an “object ID” 103. An object ID is a uniquely identifying reference of a specific object with the store (e.g. a randomly assigned alphanumeric character). Another type of store that conceptually has a large degree of overlap with an object store is a “key-value” store. By definition, a key-value store maps individually stored information (i.e., the “values”) to individual keys that are uniquely assigned to the values. A specific set of stored values are accessed by providing the store with the key for those values. Thus, the “key” corresponds to an “object ID” and the “values” correspond to an “object”.

FIG. 1b shows file directory based storage. In the case of file directory based storage individual items of stored information are kept in files 104_1 through 104_N. Files are organized into a directory where any sub-directory 106_1 through 106_M can include one or more files or one or more lower sub-directories. A specific item of information is obtained by accessing its file. The file is accessed by articulating the path through the directory that leads to the file. For example, in the exemplary directory of FIG. 1 b, file 104_3 is accessed by articulating “C/FOO/BAR/NOTES”.

FIG. 1c shows block based storage. In the case of block based storage, the storage resource is viewed as being broken down into contiguous blocks 107_1 through 107_N. A specific item of information is accessed by identifying the block where it resides. A common type of block storage is a “thin provisioning” system in which a block is identified by an offset within a larger “logical” storage resource. Thin provisioned systems have been traditionally used to more efficient use of physical storage resources as unused block segments do not occupy physical storage space. For example, a logical file (e.g., as contemplated by an operating system) may include active data portions or “stripes” where actual data resides and “unused” portions where no substantive data resides.

The unused portions may correspond, for instance, to regions that have not been written to yet. The “real” data that was been written to is written in “stripes”. For example, if FIG. 1 represents a logical file that spans offset 80 through 106, stripes 80-87 and stripes 100-106 contain real data and are stored in physical storage while offset values 88-99 are understood to contain 0s that are not actually stored in physical storage.

While FIGS. 1a-1c depict core physical storage solutions by themselves, FIG. 1d shows a fundamental usage case or implementation of any of these core storage solutions. FIG. 1d shows a traditional “database” storage implementation. As observed in FIG. 1 d, the traditional database storage implementation includes a database interface 108, an indexing layer 109 and a storage layer 110.

The database interface layer 108 accepts queries to the database storage (e.g., according to some type of predefined structured query language (e.g., SQL) or other query format). A common feature of queries is that they often identify data by its content rather than a particular address where the sought for data is found. For example, a query submitted through interface 108 might ask for all email addresses having a specific string (e.g., “@abc.com”). It is the role of the indexing and storage layers 109, 110 to actually find the targeted information.

The indexing layer 109 exists to speedup lookups into the storage layer 110. As a point of comparison, without the indexing layer 109, a query for a particular item of information within the storage layer 110 would be accomplished primarily by scrolling through each item of information kept by the storage layer 110 until the sought for information was found.

The function of the indexing layer 109 is similar to the index at the end of a textbook. With input criteria specifying the sought after information (e.g., “@abc.com”), the index returns with one or more pointers or other information useable to fetch the specifically requested information from the storage layer 110. Thus the indexing layer 109 can be viewed as a mechanism for effectively searching the contents of the underlying storage layer 110.

The storage layer 110 corresponds to the resources used to actually store the information and can be implemented with any of the storage systems discussed above with reference to FIGS. 1a through 1 c.

FIG. 1e depicts the implementation of a relational database. As is understood in the art a relational database is typically contemplated as a collection of tables. The individual rows of the various tables are viewed as the records that are kept by the relational database. The columns of a particular table are used to keep the various data items for a particular row. For example, referring to table 120, if each row represents a particular person, a first column may be used to keep the person's name, a second column may be used to keep the person's phone number, a third column may be used to keep the person's email address, etc. Rows whose data content are defined by the same set of columns are logically viewed as being kept within the same table.

Typically, one column of a table is identified as the “primary key” used to identify a particular row within the table. For example, continuing with the example above where each row represents a person, one column of a table may be used for a “userid” that uniquely identifies the person. With the userid for a particular person, the row in the table for the particular person can be easily fetched. In this sense, the userid also acts as a primary key for accessing the table as well. Here, a primary key may include a combination of an identifier of the table and an identifier of a specific row within the table. The columns of a table may also include the primary keys of (rows of) other tables to establish “relationships” between records. For example, if the columns of table 120 table keep the personal information for specific people, one of these columns may include the primary key for another table 121 that keeps records on the employers of these people.

Thus, if a logic operation desires to know specific information about an employer of a particular individual, the logic operation may first access the person's record from table 120 with the userid for that person and obtain the primary key for the row in table 121 that contains information about the person's employer.

Relational databases can also be “queried” for specific information. For example, the relational database discussed above could be queried to provide the names of all people who have a specific area code in their phone number. Here, the first table 120 would be accessed, all the records having the sought for area code would be extracted and the information from the name column of these extracted records would be provided as the query result.

Note that an indexing layer 122 could be used to speed up the querying process. That is, rather than simply access the table 121 and scroll row-by-row through it for records having the desired area code, instead, an index layer 121 could be built on top of the tables 120, 121 that is designed to provide the primary keys of people based on their area code. Here, the index 121 can take the form of a B+ tree whose nodes are associated with specific area code numeric ranges with a narrower range being specified moving down through the tree. Eventually the leaf pages of the B+ tree are reached that provide specific primary keys for specific people having a specific area code. In a basic approach there is a separate index for every column in a table so that any query for any item of information within the table can be sped up as described above. Of course, any changes to the records in the table will need to be reflected in the index.

FIGURES

FIGS. 1a through 1e pertain to prior art storage technologies;

FIG. 2 shows an improved storage technology that provides for quotas, thin provisioning and relational databases with distributed consistent database technology;

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary KVS layer;

FIG. 4 shows a distributed consistent database;

FIGS. 5a-5d show basic access behavior for a distributed consistent database;

FIG. 6 shows a methodology that outlines the basic access behavior of a distributed consistent database;

FIGS. 7a-7e show distributed consistent database behavior when changes are made to the distributed consistent database;

FIG. 8 shows a methodology outlining the behavior of a distributed consistent database when changes are made to the distributed consistent database;

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary use of a distributed consistent database to implement a file directory;

FIG. 10 depicts an exemplary use of a distributed consistent database to implement a thin provisioning block device;

FIG. 11 depicts an exemplary use of a distributed consistent database to implement a quota system;

FIG. 12 depicts an exemplary us of a distributed consistent database to implement a relational database;

FIG. 13 is a schematic depiction of various manners in which the architecture of FIG. 2 can actually be implemented in practice;

FIG. 14 shows a computer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

1.0 Overview

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a new and versatile storage architecture 200. As observed in FIG. 2, the new architecture includes an object or key value store (KVS) 201, a distributed database management system (DDS) 202 (implemented with separate DDS instances 202_1 through 202_N) and a connectors node system (CNS) 203 (implemented with separate CNS instances 203_1 through 203_N).

At a high level perspective, the KVS 201 can be viewed as the principle storage resource of the system. In various implementations the KVS is implemented as an “object store” that stores “objects”. Objects and object stores are well understood in the art. Objects are units of fundamental storage in an object store. Each object is assigned its own unique (e.g., random) identifier that uniquely identifies its corresponding object. This particular type of access is distinguishing from other types of storage systems such as file systems (whose fundamental unit of storage, a “file”, is identified with a directory path) and block storage systems (whose fundamental unit of storage, “a block” is identified with a numerically restrictive offset).

Here, as will be discussed at length below, in an embodiment, the KVS 201 is implemented as an object store having a Chord-like distributed hash table access mechanism. The combination of a Chord-like distributed hash table access mechanism with an object store provides for certain advantages for large scale storage systems (principally: intelligent routing resulting in reduced message passing, parallel accessing capability and the ability to keep meta-data along with the stored information).

As described in the background, however, key value store systems employ the use of a key or object ID as the primary mechanism for accessing the data. This means other storage types, such as directory storage or block types of storage, are not natively implemented on the primary KVS storage 201.

The DDS 202 therefore is added as a database management layer above the KVS 201 to provide interfaces 206, 207of the KVS 201 that permit the KVS 201 to be used as file directory or block based storage system. The file directory interface 206 essentially acts as a translation layer that converts an access specified in the form of a directory into an object ID for the KVS 201. Likewise the block storage interface 207 acts as a translation layer that converts an access specified in the form of an offset (or other type of block specific access) into an object ID for the KVS 201. Practically then, the KVS 201 can be used directly as a key value store or, indirectly as a directory based storage (with a directory interface 206) or indirectly as a block store (with a block interface 207). If the KVS 201 is sufficiently large, one or more of each of these different types of storage systems may be simultaneously implemented.

In an embodiment, both of these interface layers 206, 207 are built with a special mechanism, referred to as an “distributed consistent database”, for effectively imposing structure or organization into the KVS 201 Each instance of a distributed consistent database includes a head object for the structure to be imposed. The head object has a mapping table that defines the hierarchy of the structure and its implementation in KVS. In an embodiment, the mapping table: i) identifies a root page that represents the apex of the hierarchy; ii) identifies the intermediate and leaf pages that reside beneath the root page; iii) maps the “page ID” of the intermediate and leaf pages to specific object IDs within the KVS 201. Leaf pages contain object ID(s) (or information from which object ID(s) can be determined) for the information within KVS that the structure was accessed to obtain.

Individual users can be provided, through interface 213, with their own distributed consistent database instances for their own individual storage. For example, a first user may be provided a first distributed consistent database instance for storage of the first user's content and a second user may be provided with a second distributed consistent database instance for storage of the second user's content, etc. However, multiple distributed consistent database instances can also be coordinated together as fundamental kernels in the construction of a singular, extremely large capacity storage solution. In one approach, a unique distributed consistent database is instantiated at each node of a storage system's hierarchy (e.g., each directory, each sub-directory and each file of a file system) to effect extremely large and easily managed storage resources at each node of the system.

As such, as observed on FIG. 2, the file directory interface 206 uses the distributed consistent database technology 213 to effect extremely large scale file directories, and, the block storage interface 207 uses the distributed consistent database technology 213 to effect extremely large block storage systems.

Moreover, the behavior of the distributed consistent database naturally lends itself to the implementation of “functional bricks” that can run on top of any storage system implemented within the KVS 201. An example of one such functional brick is a quota policy 209. Another functional brick is a relational database 210. The functional bricks 209, 210 and interfaces 206, 207, 213 can be used in various combinations to effect various storage systems.

With the DDS 202 and the CNS 203 a wide range of different storage system interfaces to end-users 205_1 though 205_M. Here, an “end-user” or “user” or “requestor” is any entity that makes use of the storage resources in KVS 201. Examples include an application software instance, an application software process, a client computer instantiated with any one or more of these software instances/processes, an organization such as a corporation, etc.

With direct access to the KVS 201, the CNS 203 is able to provide various object store connectors/interfaces to end-users (e.g., Cloud Data Management Interfaces (CDMI), Simple Storage System (S3), etc.). With access to the file directory interface 206 provided by the DDS 202, the CNS 203 is able to provide any directory file system connector/interface to end-users (e.g., Network File System (NFS), Common Internet File System (CIFS), File System in User Space (FUSE), etc.). Likewise with access to the block storage interface 207 provided by the DDS 202, the CNS 203 is able to provide any block storage system connector/interface to end users (e.g., iSCSI, FC). Again, any/all of these different storage solutions may simultaneously be implemented on the KVS 201 as the actual physical storage resource.

2.0 The KVS System

FIG. 3 shows a depiction of an embodiment 301 of the KVS system 201 of FIG. 2. As mentioned above the KVS system 301 can be implemented as an object store having a Chord or Chord-like distributed hash table access mechanism. Such a KVS system 301 can readily be implemented with less expensive disks. Moreover, due to the fact that any of its storage nodes can receive input queries, it essentially has a parallel accessing structure which can be used to diminish any points of contention when writing in parallel and offers good overall parallel I/O performance.

As will be described in more detail below, in an embodiment, the KVS system 201 has the following properties: 1) it is composed of storage nodes; 2) it understands specific verbs to create, read, update and delete data; 3) it manages versions and other system attributes per object; 4) it understands specific verbs to manage reservations which prevent concurrent writers to overwrite an object; 5) it forbids concurrent writing to and reading from the same object; 6) it permits concurrent multiple reads of the same object; 7) it does not require a strong consensus algorithm to operate; 8) the system may have hierarchical levels in which an attempt is made to place objects that are more likely to be accessed in a higher level than objects that are less likely to be accessed (e.g., caching); 9) multiple replicas of a same data object may be stored on different storage nodes to ensure reliability should any particular node go down.

The same keyspace is used for both keys and actual storage nodes where the entirety of the keyspace is envisioned as a logical “ring”. Some locations on the ring 303_1 through 303_R correspond to actual storage nodes. Each storage node may receive queries from one or more DDS instances. Remaining ring locations correspond to the respective keyspace IDs or “object IDs” for the data objects that are stored on the storage nodes. Thus, the object ID for a stored data object essentially defines its storage location on the ring.

According to the routing scheme of the system, object IDs are mapped to their successor node. For example, the object IDs within range 306 are mapped to node 303_1, the object IDs within range 307 are mapped to node 303_2, etc.

Each storage node has its own associated routing function, referred to as a finger table. FIG. 3 depicts node 303_2's finger table 311 as an example. Finger table 311 identifies the range 307 of the object IDs 309 whose corresponding objects are stored locally on node 303_2. Node 303_2's finger table 211 also includes routing information 310 that directs a query for any object ID outside its local range 309 to another more appropriate node downstream along the ring. As such, when an object ID is presented to the finger table 311 of node 303_2, the locally stored range 307 information is referred to and the requested data object is immediately returned if it is stored locally on node 303_2. If the object ID is outside node 303_2's object ID range 307 the query is directed further along the ring to a particular node specified in node 303_2's routing information 310.

Generally, the farther a querying object ID is outside a node's local storage range, the farther downstream along the ring the node's routing information will direct the query. The mathematical protocol used in construction of the nodes' respective finger tables ensures that the query will “hit” the node whose local storage range covers the querying object ID within a limited number of routing hops around the ring.

Additionally, through a technique referred to as “replication”, a single object ID can be mapped to more than one node along the ring. By so doing, multiple instances of a particular data object are kept at various nodes along the ring thereby ensuring reliability should a node having the data object suffer a failure. When a node does fail, all that needs to be done to reconfigure nodal routing information is to update the failing node's successor to include the failing node's object ID range and update the finger table routing information of the affected nodes along the ring.

According to one approach, referred to as “consistent hashing” each of the nodes along the ring will locally store approximately the same number of object IDs As such complex routing table reconfiguration is not required in the face of a node failure or join.

The object ID for a stored data item may, for instance, be a randomly assigned value or the output of a hashing function. In one implementation, an object ID is assigned for a data item when the data is first presented to the KVS system for storage (e.g., with a CREATE operation). The KVS system may provide the caller of the CREATE operation with the object ID for the data item for subsequent reference to the same data object.

In an implementation, the “object ID” corresponds to entropy information within a larger key structure that is actually used to fetch data along the ring. The larger key structure may include, for example, information appended to the entropy object ID that identifies the number of replicas of the data object within the system as well as which replica the specific key structure corresponds to.

In one embodiment, the individual data items that are stored in the KVS system are embodied as a “chunk” of information having not only the actual data object being stored but also meta-data containing system and/or user defined meta data that is stored along with the actual data object (for simplicity the remainder of the document will refer mainly to a data object). The system meta-data may include, e.g., time of creation of the data object, size of the data object, last access time of the data object, last modification time of the data object and the version number of the data object among other possible characteristics. The user defined meta-data can be any attribute of the data object defined by the user. System meta-data is updated as appropriate when an object is accessed. User meta-data (and even system meta-data) for a particular data object may be returned along with the data object whenever the data is accessed (e.g., for GET and PUT operations).

In an embodiment, the KVS system supports CREATE, PUT, DELETE and GET operations and uses a reservation system to ensure data consistency. Here, RESERVE commands are sent to nodes to effectively place a lock on the data item.

In the case of a CREATE operation, which is used to create a new object, a RESERVE command is initially sent to every node that will be used to store the data object or a replica of the data object. A subsequent CREATE command for the same object is not issued to any such node until an appropriate response is received from each node to which a RESERVE command was sent. In the case of the creation of a new data object, an appropriate response to a RESERVE command includes an indication that the object ID for the new data object is available and there are no competing requests for the same object ID.

In the case of a PUT operation, which is used to update an existing data object, like the CREATE operation, a RESERVE command with a “PUT” intent is initially sent to every node that stores the data object or a replica of the data object. A subsequent PUT command is not issued to any such node until an appropriate response is received from each node to which a RESERVE command was sent. In the case of a PUT operation, an appropriate response to a RESERVE command includes an indication that the specific data object exists and there are no competing PUT, GET or DELETE requests for the same data object. As part of the process of modifying the data object with a PUT command, the version number of the data item's meta-data is incremented commensurate with the writing of the new data.

In the case of DELETE operations, like PUT operations, a RESERVE command is initially sent to every node having the data object or a replica of the data object. Unlike a PUT command, however, a DELETE command is issued to a node that appropriately responds to a RESERVE command as soon as the response to the RESERVE command is received. Here, an appropriate response to a RESERVE command for a DELETE operation includes an indication that the object exists and there are no competing PUT or GET requests for the same object.

In the case of GET operations, a RESERVE command with “GET” intent is sent to every node having the data object. If the RESERVE command is responded to favorably (which indicates that the data object exists and there are no competing PUT or DELETE requests for the same object), the data item is returned to the caller. Here, the fastest replica with the highest version number is chosen for the GET operation (otherwise the operation fails and is retried later).

In a further implementation, the KVS system may be enhanced to include one or more supervisory nodes (not depicted in FIG. 2) that are communicatively coupled to the storage nodes of the ring. The supervisory node(s) execute processes that: 1) formally join new nodes to the ring; 2) formally delete existing nodes from the ring; 3) monitor the ranges of object IDs stored on each node; 4) detects incorrect storage of object IDs on a particular node (e.g., a node is storing successor object IDs); and, 5) resolves any such incorrect object ID storage.

In another further implementation, the KVS system has multiple storage tiers (also not shown in FIG. 2). For example, a first ring is used as a caching layer (tier 1) and a second ring is used as a deeper storage later (tier 2). Here, accesses to the tier 1 layer are generally completed sooner than accesses to the tier 2 layer. A probabilistic offload engine determines which data objects warrant storage in the tier 1 layer (e.g., objects deemed more likely to be accessed in the immediate time frame are identified for storage in the tier 1 layer). Various semantics between the caching and deeper layers may be exercised (e.g., write through, copy-on-write, etc.) to ensure data reliability and consistency.

More details pertaining to an implementation of a KVS system may be found in U.S. application Ser. No. 12/640,373 filed on Dec. 17, 2009 entitled “Multipurpose Storage System Based Upon A Distributed Hashing Mechanism With Transactional Support and Failover Capability” and issued as U.S. Pat. No 842,944 and U.S. application Ser. No. 12/964,656 filed on Dec. 9, 2010 and entitled “Probabilistic Offload Engine For Distributed Hierarchical Object Storage Devices” both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into the instant application.

3.0 The DDS Database Management System (the Distributed Consistent Database and uses of the Distributed Consistent Database)

Referring to FIG. 2, the distributed database management system (DDS) 202 is used to help realize different kinds of structures that can be implemented within the KVS 201. Specifically, as discussed with respect to FIG. 2, the KVS system dictates the use of a key (object ID) to a caller of the KVS system 201. As such, in order to implement directory based storage systems and/or block based storage systems in KVS, the DDS 202, in an embodiment, offers both a directory interface 206 and a block storage interface 207.

As discussed above, the directory and block storage interfaces 206, 207 rely on an underlying structural kernel imposed into KVS, referred to as a distributed consistent database 213, that permits for extremely large storage systems. Distributed consistent database instances may also be exposed for direct use. Additionally, distributed consistent databases can be used to implement other functions or applications on top of any of the storage systems implemented within KVS 201. Examples include quotas 208 and relational database functions 210.

3.1 The Distributed Consistent Database—Structure and Overview

FIG. 4 shows an instance of a distributed consistent database. Referring to FIG. 4, a distributed consistent database includes a hierarchy of pages 400 that are managed within a DDS instance 402. The hierarchy of pages 400 are used to navigate accesses for a collection of objects 403 within KVS 401 that the distributed consistent database is the keeper of. Thus, objects 403 typically correspond to objects containing information of the “user” (“customer information”) while the hierarchy of pages 400 is used to correctly identify which of objects 403 have been targeted by any particular request made to the distributed consistent database.

In an implementation, as will be described more completely below, each page of the hierarchy 400 is kept within its own object in KVS 402. Objects containing hierarchy pages are called into DDS 402 from KVS 401, e.g., “one at a time”, as their corresponding pages are actually needed (objects whose pages “might be” needed may also be called up in advance).

In an embodiment, a page is understood to be a collection of information that can be switched into memory and switched out of memory as a unit by a software program that operates on the page's information. As is known in the art, one or more pages of information are called into memory by a software program, where, there is typically some limit on the size of the pages and/or the number of pages that can be called into memory by the software program. In operation, to effect efficient use of memory, a software program will call into memory the pages it needs or believes it might need and switches out of memory the pages it does not need or believes it does not need.

In practice, each “page” may be implemented as a document (e.g., an XML document, JSON document or binary representation) or other construct that can be contained within an object store object and keep the hierarchical and/or navigational logic of the access hierarchy scheme.

Thus, in an implementation, the corpus of hierarchical pages 400 observed in FIG. 4 for an entire distributed consistent database are typically not all resident within DDS 402 at any instant of time. Rather, only a subset of these pages 400 are eventually called up from KVS 401 to satisfy any particular request. The hierarchy of pages 400 can easily “expand”, however, akin to the behavior of a B+tree, to accommodate extremely large numbers of objects 403 that the distributed consistent database is used to store.

As observed in FIG. 4, the hierarchy of pages 400 include a root page 411, various intermediate pages 412_1 through 412_X and various leaf pages 413_1 through 413_Y. Although only one level of intermediate pages 412 is depicted, a distributed consistent database may have multiple levels of intermediate pages. Each of the root page 411 and the intermediate pages 412_1 through 412_Y include the page IDs of their immediately lower pages. For example, root page 411 includes the page IDs for each of intermediate pages 412_1 through 412_Y, intermediate page 412_1 includes the page IDs for leaf pages 413_1 through 413_Z, etc. Each page may also include some form of logic and/or information to be processed by such logic (e.g., within DDS software) that determines which is the appropriate next lower page for any particular request. For example, if a particular request targets an object within objects 403 whose object ID is kept on leaf page 413_1, the logic of root page 411, in view of the request, will produce the PAGE ID for intermediate page 412_1, and, likewise, the logic of intermediate page 412_1 will produce the PAGE ID of leaf page 413_1.

In this manner, any particular request is resolved to the correct leaf page. A leaf page contains one or more object IDs or other references for the objects 403 within KVS 401 that are kept by the distributed consistent database. For example, in the case of a simple read request, when the read request is applied to the correct leaf page, the leaf page provides the object ID or other identifier for the specific object in KVS that has been requested.

3.2 The Distributed Consistent Database—Basic Access

FIGS. 5a-5d show basic access behavior for a distributed consistent database and FIG. 6 shows a methodology that outlines the basic access behavior.

Referring to FIG. 5a and FIG. 6, a request 510 is received that identifies a particular distributed consistent database and an action to be performed on that distributed consistent database 601. The request 510 may be generated externally from DDS 502 (e.g., in the case where the distributed consistent database is exposed for direct use) or internally within DDS 502 (e.g., in the case where a larger database solution offered by DDS is invoking the distributed consistent database). Actions to be performed on a distributed consistent database typically include any of: 1) the fetching of one or more objects 503 from within KVS 501 that the distributed consistent database is configured to keep; 2) the addition into KVS 501 of one or more objects into the group of objects 503 that the distributed consistent database is configured to keep; or, 3) the deletion from KVS 501 of one or more objects from the group of objects 503 within KVS 501 that the distributed consistent database is configured to keep.

In response to the request 510, referring to FIGS. 5b and 6, the DDS 502 reads 602 from KVS 501 a “head” object 511 for the specific distributed consistent database that is targeted by the request 510. In an implementation, the head object 511 for the distributed consistent database targeted by the request is identified in the request itself 510 or is readily identifiable from the request itself (e.g., the object ID is calculated from the request through some mathematical operation). Alternatively, the DDS 502 may keep a repository that tracks the head object IDs for all the distributed consistent databases it has instantiated in KVS 501.

The head object 511 contains a mapping table 512 and the object ID 513 for the object 514 within KVS 501 that contains the root page 515 for the distributed consistent database. As will be made more apparent in the following discussion, the mapping table 512 is a data structure that correlates the PAGE ID of the intermediate and leaf node pages of the distributed consistent database's hierarchy to its corresponding KVS object ID. The root page 515, corresponds to root page 411 of FIG. 4 and represents the root (highest level) node in the hierarchy of the distributed consistent database. The object ID 513 for the root page 515 found in the head object 511 is used to initially fetch 602 the root page 515 from KVS 501.

The information on the root page 515 identifies, via “page IDs”, the immediately lower nodes of the distributed consistent database's hierarchy that stem from directly beneath the root page. The root page 515 also contains logic (or information to be used by such logic within the DDS software) for determining which of these page IDs is the correct page ID for the next lower node of the distributed consistent database's hierarchy in view of the request being processed.

Referring to FIG. 5c and FIG. 6, the request 510 is applied to the root page 515 which provides the page ID 516 for the next lower node in the distributed consistent database's hierarchy that is appropriate to satisfy the request 603. The next lower page ID 516, in turn, is provided to the mapping table 512 which provides 604 the object ID 517 for the object 518 in KVS 501 that contains the next lower page 519. The object 518 containing the next lower page 519 is fetched 605 from KVS 501 and the process repeats 606 until a leaf page is reached 607 in the distributed consistent database's hierarchy.

For ease of drawing FIG. 5d depicts a leaf page 520 being reached immediately after the first intermediate page 519. Note that only three pages have been called up from KVS to reach the leaf page 520 whereas the distributed consistent database's hierarchy of pages may be much larger than that (e.g., many more intermediate pages and leaf pages may exist).

In an embodiment, object ID(s) for requested information are found directly within a leaf page (i.e., the mapping table is not used). For example, in the case of directory request “/C/RED/BLUE/FILE”, the object ID for FILE will be found in the leaf page that is called up from KVS of the distributed consistent database dedicated to the folder BLUE. The object ID is then applied directly to KVS to fetch the requested information 608. Here, the object ID for the head object for the distributed consistent database representing folder BLUE is referenced on a leaf page of a distributed consistent database representing folder RED. The object ID for the head object for the distributed consistent database representing folder RED will be referenced on a leaf page of a distributed consistent database representing root directory C. In an implementation, a distributed consistent database representing a root directory has a fixed object ID.

Although the embodiments described herein mainly contemplate an implementation where only one page is kept in an object containing a hierarchical page, it is conceivable that multiple hierarchical pages may be kept in single object.

3.3 The Distributed Consistent Database—Implementation of Changes

FIGS. 7a-7e show distributed consistent database behavior when changes are made to the distributed consistent database. FIG. 8 shows a methodology outlining such behavior.

The contents of a distributed consistent database are often not static. The hierarchy of a distributed consistent database can behave much like a B− tree in the face of changes. For instance, if a large number of objects is added to the distributed consistent database for storage, the number of intermediate and/or leaf pages in the hierarchy may expand outward. Likewise, if a number of objects kept by the distributed consistent database are deleted, content of multiple pages may be merged onto a single page with one or more of the other pages being deleted. Thus, the “shape and size” of a distributed consistent database's page hierarchy may expand and contract in response to the addition and deletion of objects that are stored in the distributed consistent database. Moreover, changes to pages should have limited ripple effects to other pages. For instance, if a leaf page is deleted, the deletion needs to be accounted for in the intermediate page that references the deleted leaf page but no other page needs to be modified.

A practical difficulty is that, as discussed above with respect to FIG. 2, the overall framework is intended to have the capability to scale to large values of N (number of DDS instances) and/or M (number of users). As such, it is possible that one or more other DDS instances and/or users may be simultaneously accessing the same distributed consistent database. In an implementation, there is no limit placed on how many reads may be made from KVS for the head object for a particular distributed consistent database. As such, anytime a particular user or DDS instance intends to impose a change to a distributed consistent database there is the potential that a large number of other DDS instances and/or users are using the distributed consistent database and intend to make their own changes as well. Some of these changes may even compete with the changes desired by the particular user or DDS instance.

In an implementation this problem is dealt with by making the objects of a distributed consistent database other than its head object immutable (that is, they cannot be modified), and, using an ACID transactional process on KVS to effect any desired changes to the distributed consistent database. Here, in embodiment, objects containing intermediate pages, objects containing leaf pages, and the customer data objects referred to by the leaf pages are all made immutable.

As observed in FIGS. 7a and 8, in an embodiment, when the head object 711 for a structure is first read 801 from KVS a “working” mapping table 720 is created from the mapping table 712 contained within the head object 711. Initially the working mapping table 720 is just a copy of the mapping table 712 that is found in the head object 711. In an implementation, the head object 711 also contains meta-data 725 that tracks versioning for the head object 711. The use of the working mapping table 720 and the version number for the head object 711 will become more apparent in the following discussion.

The distributed consistent database is then accessed consistent with the methodology of FIG. 6 and the specifics of the request. The access may entail deletions of and/or additions to the customer data objects kept by the distributed consistent database. Such changes may cause changes to the content of the intermediate and/or leaf pages of the distributed consistent database's hierarchy, and/or, may change the number of intermediate and/or leaf pages. In the case of customer objects to be deleted, one or more leaf pages will have to be amended to delete any reference to their object IDs. In the case of newly created customer objects, certain leaf pages will have to be amended (and/or added) to include references to their object IDs. The specific pages that are impacted by any such changes are identified and called up from KVS 802 (if not already called up by way of the prior access). For ease of drawing, FIGS. 7a-7e do not show any of the hierarchy pages.

As observed in FIG. 8, there are three basic kinds of changes that can be made to the pages that are impacted by the structural change: 1) the deletion of a page 803; 2) the addition of page 804; and, 3) the modification of a page 805. Any number and combination of these changes may result from any combination of additions and deletions to the set of customer objects kept by the distributed consistent database.

Referring to FIG. 7b and FIG. 8, if a page is to be deleted 803, its entry 721 is stricken 806 from the working mapping table 720. If a page is to be added 804, a new entry 722 having a new page ID and corresponding object ID for the new page is added 807 to the working mapping table 720. If a page is to be modified 805, the change is made to the page (which can be a change, deletion and/or addition upon the page's information), a new object ID 723 for the page is created and entered to the working mapping table 720 (the modified page keeps its page ID), and, the old object ID 724 for the page is stricken 808 from the working mapping table 720 (the old object containing the old page will be deleted from KVS). Note that process 808 essentially accounts for the characteristic that KVS objects containing pages are immutable. Here, permitting a modified page to keep its page ID dampens the “ripple up” of changes upward in the page hierarchy that would otherwise need to be made if a new page ID were used.

The head object 711, however, is not immutable and the DDS instance, referring to FIGS. 7c and 8, initiates a PUT operation to KVS to essentially incorporate the updated working mapping table 720 into the head object 711 rather than the original mapping table 712 that was found in the head object 711 when it was first read from KVS (at process 801). Recall that in the case of a PUT operation, a RESERVE command is initially sent 809 to every KVS node that stores the object or a replica of the object. A subsequent PUT command 813 is not issued to any such node until an appropriate response is received from each node to which a RESERVE command was sent 810.

In the case of a PUT operation, an appropriate response to a RESERVE command 809 includes the object's meta data with current version number 726, and, an indication that the specific object exists and there are no competing PUT, GET or DELETE requests for the same object. Receipt of the appropriate response from all KVS nodes having the head object or its replica confirms that the RESERVE command has locked the head object.

The current meta-data version number 726 for the head object 711 that is received in response to the RESERVE command is compared 811 with the version number 725 for the head object 711 when the head object 711 was first read from KVS 801. If the version number has not changed since the initial reading 801 of the head object 711 (i.e., the current version number 726 for the head object included in the RESERVE responses is the same as the version number 725 for the head object as of the initial read of the head object 801) there were no changes made to the distributed consistent database since the initial access 801 of the head object and the changes are committed 812.

Referring to 7d and FIG. 8, the changes are committed 812 by: 1) issuing one or more CREATE commands 813 into KVS for one or more new objects for any new pages, modified existing pages, new customer objects or effectively modified pre-existing customer objects; 2) issuing a PUT command 814 to KVS for the head object 711 including the working mapping table 720; 3) issuing one or more DELETE commands 815 for one or more objects to be deleted corresponding to deleted pages, earlier versions of modified pages or earlier versions of modified customer data objects. In an embodiment, at least processes 813 and 814 are executed serially in order.

As alluded to above, the one or more CREATE commands store data objects into KVS for any new customer data objects to be added to the group of objects 403 kept by the distributed consistent database. These include both entirely new items of data and modified versions of previously existing data (the later reflecting the immutable nature of the customer data objects). The object IDs for the newly created objects may be randomly chosen. The one or more DELETE commands are also used to delete from KVS any customer data objects to deleted from the group of objects kept by the distributed consistent database. These include both previously existing items of data that have been deleted outright and previously existing items of data that have been modified (the later again reflecting the immutable nature of the customer data objects).

Referring to FIG. 7e and FIG. 8, if the version number has changed, the changes to be made to the distributed consistent database's hierarchy are rolled back 816 by: 1) not following through with a PUT command on the head object (as such, the version number for the head object is not incremented and the original mapping table is maintained); 2) discarding the working mapping table 720; and, 3) discarding any newly created pages (which effectively discards modified as well as actually new pages).

Note that the use of the RESERVE command for PUT operations corresponds to an optimistic locking system when the potential for multiple concurrently existing instances of the same DDS structure is considered. The number of such instances can be very large.

It is important to point out that although the KVS solution described above in Section 2.0 was presented as the underlying KVS in the discussion of the distributed consistent database provided just described above in Sections 3.0, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3, such a presentation was only for exemplary purposes. Other embodiments that implement distributed consistent database technology may use KVS technologies other than the particular KVS solution described above in Section 2.0. Here, at least, any KVS system that implements reservations and versioning akin to processes 809-811 of FIG. 8 may be used to implement distributed consistent database technology (safety and liveness may be additionally guaranteed).

3.4 Uses of the Distributed Consistent Database To Implement Large Scale Storage Systems

The generic access system discussed above has a number of different uses for effectively extending the range of KVS beyond a basic object store. These include directory and thin provisioned file storage systems. A discussion of each of these is provided immediately below.

i) Directory File Storage Systems

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary use of the distributed consistent database to implement the file directory interface 206 of FIG. 2. As is known in the art, a specific file is targeted in a file directory system by specifying a pathway of sub-directories/folders through the directory's hierarchy (e.g., “/RED/BLUE/GOLD/FILE”). FIG. 9 depicts a segment 930 of a file directory's hierarchy. Here, a single sub-directory/folder 931 is shown. The sub-directory's parent directory 932 is shown as is its children sub-directories and files 933_1 through 933_R. A “root node” head object represents the entire file system directory and paths to all sub-directories and files flow from the root node.

In an implementation, every “node” in the file system in implemented as a distributed consistent database having its own head object, etc. Thus, parent directory 932 is implemented as a first distributed consistent database instance, sub-directory 931 is implemented as a second distributed consistent database instance and each of the children sub-directories and files 933_1 through 933_R are implemented as their own individual distributed consistent database instances.

FIG. 9 shows a representation 934 of the distributed consistent database used to implement sub-directory 931. Consistent with the discussions provided above, the distributed consistent database includes a hierarchy of pages 935 and a group of objects 936 that are kept by the distributed consistent database. For any given access to the distributed consistent database, the hierarchy of pages 935 are navigated through in piece-meal fashion to reach a specific one or more objects from the group of objects 936 kept by the distributed consistent database.

Here, the group of objects 936 kept by the distributed consistent database correspond to the children sub-directories and files 933_1 through 933_R within the sub-directory 931. Each of these objects 936 are also implemented as head object (each child sub-directory and file is implemented as its own distributed consistent database). The hierarchy of pages 934 permits for easy/efficient access of any targeted child sub-directory or file should R become extremely large.

A targeted file is reached anywhere in a file system directory by “hopping” through a chain of distributed consistent databases representing the directory/sub-directory path of the request until the desired “file” is reached (which is also implemented as a distributed consistent database). The content of the hierarchy of pages is designed to guide the navigation progression through the pages consistent the request which specifies a file directory path.

For example, for any access that “flows” through sub-directory 931, the head object for the parent directory 932 will be called up from KVS, its hierarchy of pages will be navigated through piece-meal until a leaf page that identifies the head object for sub-directory 931 is reached. The head object for sub-directory 931 will then be called up from KVS and its hierarchy of pages 935 will be navigated through until a leaf page is reached that identifies the head object of the next sub-directory that is impacted by the request. The process continues until the targeted file is reached. If the file targeted by the request is contained by sub-directory 931 a leaf page will be reached in hierarchy 935 that identifies the head object for the targeted file.

Changes to the file system are made consistently with the discussion above in FIGS. 7a-7e and FIG. 8.

If any files or sub-directories 933_1 through 933_R within sub-directory 931 are to be deleted, their corresponding head objects are marked for deletion from KVS and the hierarchy of pages 935 are modified to no longer refer to the object IDs of these sub-directories/files. The hierarchy of pages 935 are modified at least by removing the object IDs of the deleted sub-directories/files from any leaf pages of the hierarchy 935. This may include effective page modification, entire page deletion or both.

For example, deletion of a large number of sub-directory/file objects may cause two leaf pages to merge. This causes modification to the leaf page that takes on the content of the leaf page to be deleted, and, causes modification to the intermediate page that used to refer to both leaf pages (and now needs to only refer to the one remaining leaf page). No other page modification is required. The fact that modified pages keep their page ID dampens ripple effects of page modification extending upward in the hierarchy.

Owing to the immutable property, modified pages keep their page ID but receive a new object ID in the working mapping table and are marked for storage in a new object in KVS. Objects containing the older content of a modified page are marked for deletion. Pages that are deleted outright have their entries in the working mapping table deleted and have their KVS objects marked for deletion.

The head object for sub-directory 931, which is not immutable, is then written into KVS with the new working mapping table. Head objects of sub-directories/files to be deleted are deleted from KVS. New objects for freshly modified pages are created into KVS and objects containing old modified pages or entirely deleted pages are deleted from KVS.

If any files or sub-directories are to be added to sub-directory 931, new head objects for each are marked for creation in KVS, and the hierarchy of pages 935 are modified to reference these new files or sub-directories. The hierarchy of pages 935 are modified at least by adding references for the object IDs of the newly added sub-directories/files to one or more leaf pages of the hierarchy 935. This may include effective page modification, entire page addition or both. For example, addition of a large number of sub-directory/file objects may cause a single leaf page to split into two leaf pages. This causes modification to the existing leaf page (which takes on references to new object IDs but deletes some references to pre-existing object IDs), addition of a new leaf page, and modification to the intermediate page that used to refer to the single leaf page but now has to refer to both.

As mentioned above, owing to the immutable property, modified pages keep their page ID but receive a new object ID in the working mapping table and are marked for storage in a new object in KVS. Objects containing the older content of a modified page are marked for deletion. Pages that are added outright have new entries created in the working mapping table for them and are marked to have new objects created for them in KVS.

The head object for sub-directory 931, which is not immutable, is then written into KVS with the new working mapping table. Head objects of sub-directories/files being added are created into KVS. New objects for freshly modified pages or new pages are created into KVS and objects containing old modified pages are deleted from KVS.

In an embodiment, each page ID of sub-directory 931 and each sub-directory ID and file ID kept by distributed consistent database is implemented as an “inode” number. The key into KVS to fetch the object for any of these items is obtained by concatenating the inode number with an identifier of the overall file system.

In an embodiment each file is implemented as a distributed consistent database. As such, the content of any file can be large yet be easily accessed and/or manipulated through the characteristics of the distributed consistent database.

ii) Thin Provisioning Block Storage Systems

Recall from the background discussion of FIG. 1c that a common type of block storage is a “thin provisioning” system in which a block or “stripe” is identified by an offset within a larger “logical” storage resource, and where, “used” stripes are written into physical storage but unused stripes are not.

FIG. 10 shows a “thin provisioned” block device implemented as a single “sparse file” that is represented as a distributed consistent database 1001. Here, the leaf pages 1002 of the distributed consistent database's hierarchy 1003 contain mappings that correlate an offset identifying a particular stripe of the sparse file to a particular object ID (that is, each object in KVS 1004 corresponds to a different stripe). In an embodiment there is one such mapping per leaf page so that, e.g., any two different stripes within a same sparse file can be simultaneously accessed. Other embodiments may choose to map multiple stripe objects from a single leaf page. Basic accesses to the distributed consistent database 1001 specify the offset of a particular stripe. The root and intermediate pages of the hierarchy of pages 1003 point to a correct lower page based on the offset specified in the access request. That is, the pages within the hierarchy 1003 of the distributed consistent database contain content to navigate to a particular leaf page based on an offset as the specified input criteria.

The content of the sparse file's stripes are stored in KVS objects. No effort is made to store the full extent of the unused portions of the larger file in KVS.

The behavior of a distributed consistent database that implements a sparse file will be as described above with respect to sections 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3. Here, in an embodiment, objects other than the head object used to implement a sparse file are made immutable (whether corresponding to intermediate or leaf pages or objects containing data stripes).

In one embodiment, all stripes are configured to be the same size. However in other embodiments, given that each stripe is implemented with its own KVS object, different stripes within a same thin provisioned file implementation can have their own custom/unique size configuration.

In order to increase throughput and performance, in an embodiment, only whole stripes are written to the KVS layer unless the application layer issues a flush on an incomplete stripe (in this case only the relevant portion of the stripe is written to KVS). A typical situation is the copying of an entire file in which copies are made in smaller sections than the full stripe size. For example, if a stripe is 1.6 Mb in size, sections of the copy for storage in the stripe may be made by the user in 16 Kb increments. In this case, the stripe is not written to until 1,000 such sections have been aggregated to form a full sized stripe's worth of data. The aggregation may be made anywhere above the KVS interface (e.g., by the DDS instance, or locally at the user's system). As discussed above, a KVS object containing a stripe is immutable so any such “write” is effected by writing the new stripe's worth of information into an entirely new object.

Operations to a file within a directory file storage system may be similarly aggregated (e.g., smaller sections of the file are aggregated above the KVS layer, then, a larger write operation is made to KVS that corresponds to the accumulation of all the aggregated parts).

Sparse files can be implemented as the “files” in a directory file system (e.g., as described above with respect to FIG. 9), or, some-other access structure may be used to access a particular one of many thin provisioned files.

3.5 Uses of the Distributed Consistent Database to Implement Applications on Top of Storage Systems

Section 3.2 discussed the implementation of the file system directory and block storage system interfaces 206, 207 of FIG. 2. FIG. 2 also indicates that higher level applications such as quotas, and relational database layers can also be implemented with distributed consistent databases in KVS.

i) Quotas

A quota policy is typically used to assign a maximum amount of usable storage space to a particular user. In a common application, anytime a user attempts to write information into KVS, the quota policy is first accessed to understand what the user's maximum allotted storage amount is and how much of that allotment the user has already consumed. If the user's attempted write will exceed the user's allotted amount the user's write attempt is blocked.

In an implementation, a quota policy is implemented with a single distributed consistent database as discussed above. Here, an identifier of the user is used to first navigate through the node hierarchy of the quota distributed consistent database before the user's access is permitted. The object ID for an object in KVS having the quota information for a particular user is reached when a leaf page of the distributed consistent database's node hierarchy is reached. If the user's quota is will not be exceeded by the user's desired access, the access for the user is permitted into another database where the user's information is kept.

Additions, deletions and changes of user identifiers will cause changes to the distributed consistent database which may include changes to one or more pages in the node hierarchy of the distributed consistent database. The behavior of each affected distributed consistent database will be similar to that described above in Sections 3.1 through 3.3.

FIG. 11 shows a basic quota process. As observed in FIG. 11, an access for a user to (e.g., a distributed consistent) database where information for the user is kept is desired 1101. Instead of accessing this database, however, another distributed consistent database is fetched from KVS that keeps quota policies for the database 1102. Some form of identifier of the user is then applied to the quota database and its pages are progressed through as discussed above until a leaf page having an object ID for the user's quota record is obtained 1103. The object having the user's quota record is fetched from KVS. The quota record keeps information indicating how much storage space the user has used and how much storage space the user has been allocated. By comparing the contents of the record against details of the pending access, a determination can be made if the user will exceed the user's quota. If the pending access does not exceed the quota the user's access to the database is permitted 1104, if the pending access exceeds the quota the user's access is not permitted 1105.

Note that quota information is not limited to tracking capacity. The quota mechanism can be leveraged for other metrics, like the number of files for example.

ii) Relational Databases

Distributed consistent databases can also be used to implement a relational database. As observed in FIG. 12, the basic structures for a relational database include a first distributed consistent database 1201 that is used to implement a specific table (“table database”). Here, each object 1202 kept by the table database 1201 corresponds to a different row in a table of the relational database (“row object”). The row objects are retrieved with specific KVS object IDs. The hierarchy of pages 1203 of the table database 1201 accept primary key information for a particular row as input information. The resultant leaf page for the primary key input provides the object ID for the particular, targeted row object.

Queries into the table can be sped-up with one or more indexes 1204_1 through 1204_N. In an embodiment, each of the indexes 1204_1 through 1204_N is also implemented with its own respective consistent distributed database (“index database”), where, the objects “kept” by an index database correspond to the head objects of the table databases that the leaf pages of the index database point to. Here, the respective hierarchy of pages 1204_1 through 1204_N of each index database effectively implements the B+ tree of the index that the index database represents. The leaf pages provide the primary keys of the rows that match the query term. In a basic approach, there is one index for each column in the row structure (e.g., one index for every separate data item kept in the row objects 1202 of the table database 1201).

The structure of the primary key that is provided by an index includes an identifier of the head object for the table database (or information from which the head object for the table database can be determined). For example, the primary key may include both a table identifier and a row identifier. The table identifier is used to fetch the head object for the table database 1201 and the row identifier (or both the table identifier and the row identifier) are applied to the hierarchy of pages 1203 of the table database to obtain the object ID for the row identified by the primary key. Notably hashing may be performed on any of the components of a primary key provided by an index to obtain either or both of the object ID for the head object of the table database and/or the row identifier.

Other table databases for other tables within the relational database may be implemented with other consistent distributed databases (not shown in FIG. 12 for simplicity). The row object of one table database may include primary key information for another row object of another table database consistent with the operation of a relational database. As such, for example, a query process may entail firstly application of a query term to an index database 1204_1 which provides the primary key for a row object within a first table database. The contents of the row object may include a primary key for the row of a second table database. This primary key may then be used to access the second table database (through its head object, the primary key including or being useable to obtain the head object for the second table database) and the row within it specified by the primary key to obtain the result of the query.

In a simplest case all of the primary keys from an index database identify the same head object for a single table database although conceivably a single index database may provide primary keys for different table databases and their corresponding head objects. Any one or more of the indexes may be designed to support range queries or various other properties of an RDBMS.

Another “root” head object (not shown) may represent the entire relational database by including at least identifiers of the various index databases used to access the table databases. Thus, access to a particular relational database causes its corresponding root head object to be obtained. The query is then applied to the appropriate index database identified therein.

Changes to table databases in terms of addition or removal or rows (row objects) causes corresponding addition or removal of information within the content of the pages of the indexes that reference the added/deleted rows.

Quota systems can be applied to relational databases. For example a user may be limited on how many row objects the user is permitted to enter within the relational database. ACID transactions can also be performed on the relational database.

4.0 Implementation Embodiments

Any combination of the storage services/technologies discussed in the preceding sections may be made to provide storage services for one or more users.

FIG. 13 is a schematic depiction of various manners in which the architecture of FIG. 2 can actually be implemented in practice. As observed in FIG. 13, multiple CNS instances 1303_1 through 1303_N including their corresponding DDS stack 1302_1 through 1302_N can be configured to run on their own operating system instance and virtual machine 1350_1 through 1350_N. A single computing system (e.g., a server, a personal computer, a tablet device, a mobile handheld device, etc.) may support the execution of one or more CNS instances. In the case where multiple CNS instances are executed within a single computing system, the respective virtual machines of the multiple CNS instances may run on a virtual machine monitor. A CNS instance may also run on an operating system that runs directly on a computing system's CPU hardware (i.e., no virtual machine is utilized).

Regardless, as depicted in FIG. 13, there may be more than one computing system 1351_1 through 1351_N each having at least one CNS instance with corresponding DDS stack.

As discussed with respect to FIG. 2, each CNS instance may support multiple users 1305_1 through 1305_N. The multiple users may be separated from their respective CNS node(s) by any of a wide area network (WAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), local area network (LAN). A user may even be an application instance running on the same computing system that is supporting its CNS node (no external network). Multiple users may be connected to any or all of the CNS nodes by way of a same network or multiple networks.

Likewise, each of the CNS nodes may be connected to KVS through any of a WAN, MAN or LAN. Conceivably a CNS node may run on a same computing system upon which a KVS node is instantiated (i.e., no external network between the CNS node and the KVS node). Multiple CNS instances may be connected to KVS by way of a same network or multiple networks.

KVS, as discussed above in Section 2.0, may be implemented as a distributed storage system. In this case, the various distributed nodes of the KVS system are typically separated by a MAN, but may also be conceivably separated by a LAN and/or WAN.

A “cloud storage” service may be provided where the CNS nodes acts as gateways to the cloud storage service.

Processes taught by the discussion above may be performed with program code such as machine-executable instructions which cause a machine (such as a “virtual machine”, a general-purpose CPU processor disposed on a semiconductor chip or special-purpose processor disposed on a semiconductor chip) to perform certain functions. Alternatively, these functions may be performed by specific hardware components that contain hardwired logic for performing the functions, or by any combination of programmed computer components and custom hardware components.

A storage medium may be used to store program code. A storage medium that stores program code may be embodied as, but is not limited to, one or more memories (e.g., one or more flash memories, random access memories (static, dynamic or other)), optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards or other type of machine-readable media suitable for storing electronic instructions. Program code may also be downloaded from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by way of data signals embodied in a propagation medium (e.g., via a communication link (e.g., a network connection)).

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a computing system 1400 that can execute program code stored by a storage medium. It is important to recognize that the computing system block diagram of FIG. 14 is just one of various computing system architectures. Different types of computing systems include mobile and/or handheld computing devices (e.g., smartphones, cell-phones, personal digital assistances), laptop personal computers, desktop personal computers, servers, etc.

The applicable storage medium may include one or more fixed components (such as non volatile storage component 1402 (e.g., a hard disk drive, FLASH drive or non volatile memory) or system memory 1405) and/or various movable components such as a CD ROM 1403, a compact disc, a magnetic tape, etc. operable with removable media drive 1404. In order to execute the program code, typically instructions of the program code are loaded into the Random Access Memory (RAM) system memory 1405; and, the processing core 1406 then executes the instructions. The processing core 1406 may include one or more CPU processors or CPU processing cores.

It is believed that processes taught by the discussion above can be described within various source code software environments such as, for example, object-oriented and/or non-object-oriented programming environments including but not limited to: C+/C++, PYTHON, Java, Erlang, JavaScript, etc. The source code can be subsequently compiled into intermediate code for translation on a translator/virtual machine, or, compiled into object code targeted for a specific processor instruction set architecture.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. 

1. A storage system, comprising: an object store having a plurality of objects to implement a database, said plurality of objects comprising: a first plurality of immutable objects containing information kept within said database, said information being one of: quota policy information; information within a table of a relational database; a stripe of a thin provisioned file; a second plurality of immutable objects containing a hierarchy of pages for accessing said first plurality of immutable objects; a mutable object containing a mapping table that maps identifiers of said pages to identifiers of objects of said second plurality of immutable objects.
 2. The storage system of claim 1 wherein said database represents a quota policy system and said information kept within said database identifies how much storage space has been allocated to a user.
 3. The storage system of claim 2 wherein said information kept within said database further identifies how much storage space said user is using.
 4. The storage system of claim 1 wherein said database represents a table within a relational database and each of said first plurality of immutable objects represent a row within said table of said relational database.
 5. The storage system of claim 1 further comprising another plurality of objects to implement a second database, said another plurality of objects comprising: a third plurality of immutable objects containing second information kept within said second database; a fourth plurality of immutable objects containing a second hierarchy of pages for accessing said third plurality of immutable objects; a second mutable object containing a second mapping table that maps identifiers of pages of said second hierarchy of pages to identifiers of objects of said fourth plurality of immutable objects.
 6. The storage system of claim 5 wherein said information of said first database is a first user's information and said second information of said second database is a second user's information.
 7. The storage system of claim 5 wherein said second database corresponds to a node within a larger directory file system implemented with said object store.
 8. The storage system of claim 7 wherein said second database corresponds to a folder within said file system.
 9. A method for accessing information kept in an object store, comprising: a) receiving a request for said information; b) reading an object from said object store containing a hierarchical page of a hierarchy of pages for a database implemented within said object store where said information is kept; c) applying an identifier of said information to said page, said page providing an identifier of a next lower page in said hierarchy of pages; d) converting said identifier of a next lower page to an identifier of an object in said object that contains said next lower page; e) repeating b) through d) until said next lower page is a leaf page, applying said identifier of said information to said leaf page, said leaf page providing an identifier for an object containing said information; f) reading said object containing said information from said object store, said information being one of: quota policy information; information within a table of a relational database; a stripe of a thin provisioned file.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein said method comprises: after f), changing said information to create updated information; creating a first new object, said first new object containing said updated information, said first new object having its own respective identifier within said object store; updating said leaf page to create an updated leaf page, said updated leaf page containing a reference to said first new object and not said object containing said information, and, creating a second new object containing said updated leaf page; and, writing said first and second new objects into said object store.
 11. The method of claim 10 further comprising deleting from said object store said object containing said information and deleting another object containing said leaf page.
 12. The method of claim 10 further comprising verifying, prior to said writing, that said database has not been written to since said database was initially accessed to service said request, and, said writing of said first and second new objects into said object store being performed after said verifying.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein said verifying is part of an ACID transaction.
 14. The method of claim 9 wherein said method further comprises receiving new information for storage with new objects into said database; creating at least one new leaf page in response; in response to said creation of said at least one new leaf page, updating at least one intermediate page to create at least one updated intermediate page; performing the following with respect to said object store: writing said new objects into said object store; writing into said object store at least one new leaf page object containing said at least one new leaf page; writing into said object store at least one new intermediate page object containing said at least one new intermediate page; deleting from said object store at least one intermediate page object containing said at least one intermediate page.
 15. The method of claim 14 further comprising: creating, from a prior mapping table, an updated mapping table that maps said at least one new leaf page to said at least one new leaf page object and maps said at least one new intermediate page to said at least one new intermediate page object; writing said updated mapping table into said object store.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein said prior mapping table is contained in a head object when said head object is read from said object store between a) and b), and, said updated mapping table is contained in said head object when said head object is written back to said object store as part of a transaction into said object store to write said new objects into said object store.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein said head object also contains a reference to a root page of said hierarchy of pages.
 18. The method of claim 9 wherein said method further comprises: receiving a command to delete information from said database; deleting at least one leaf page in response; in response to said deletion of said at least one leaf page, updating at least one intermediate page to create at least one updated intermediate page; performing the following with respect to said object store: deleting objects containing said information to be deleted; deleting from said object store at least one leaf page object containing said at least one leaf page; writing into said object store at least one new intermediate page object containing said at least one updated intermediate page; deleting from said object store at least one intermediate page object containing said at least one intermediate page.
 19. The method of claim 18 further comprising: creating, from a prior mapping table, an updated mapping table that eliminates at least one mapping between said at least one leaf page and said at least one leaf page object and introduces at least one mapping between said at least one new intermediate page and said at least one new intermediate page object; writing said updated mapping table into said object store. 20.-21. (canceled)
 22. A machine readable storage medium containing program code that when processed by a computing system causes a method for accessing information kept in an object store to be performed, said method comprising: a) receiving a request for said information; b) reading an object from said object store containing a hierarchical page of a hierarchy of pages for a database implemented within said object store where said information is kept; c) applying an identifier of said information to said page, said page providing an identifier of a next lower page in said hierarchy of pages; d) converting said identifier of a next lower page to an identifier of an object in said object that contains said next lower page; e) repeating b) through d) until said next lower page is a leaf page, applying said identifier of said information to said leaf page, said leaf page providing an identifier for an object containing said information; f) reading said object containing said information from said object store, said information being one of: quota policy information; information within a table of a relational database; a stripe of a thin provisioned file. 23.-27. (canceled) 